Tag Archive: Philosophy

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Sovereign’s insignia of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Queen had a Golden Jubilee this year. I don’t know whether Queen Lizzie was very excited or not. It is not easy to tell. However, a golden jubilee of posts will soon hitting the Press. Tonight the lofty number 48 goes out.

What drives people to blog? I am sure some studies have been conducted by the intellectuals who reside in the wisdom towers of our ‘esteemed’ universities. It will be interesting to find out the outcomes. I have read a few ‘About’ pages and they are, I would like to posit a view, a window sometimes into the blogger’s mind. Well, some may think that is a naive perception, but it does make sense. My ‘About’ is as barren as any can ever be. Why is that you may wonder. It’s because of fear of the unknown. Fear that people who obtain that little glimpse into my soul may use that and destroy me. Just kidding. My ‘about’ page is a little atomic representation of my persona. Some share a little bit at a time to whet the appetite. Others like to share more about themselves and believe an open book policy is the best policy. I am sitting on the fence, like a typical Liberal.

The other Saturday I spend a day at Liverpool Museum (England). A wonderful place to get to know about the past. Reconnect with the origins of Man. It’s like a fountain. It’s a vast repository of historical facts, artefacts and also does educates shows on the lunar system. Historical artefacts from all the continents are expertly curated. There is an amazing array of objects one never even imagined existed. I have always been interested in History and the Philosophers, so it was great spending sometime with the likes of Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, Plato etc. Looking at all these effigies from a bygone era, relics from hundreds of years, possibly thousands made me think: Did they use to worry too about people having a proper look into their psyches? Or is it because the information age has made us extra sensitive because of the ‘1984’ world we live in (George Orwell) . These worries I am sure have been part of human nature since the beginning of time. For those who know the Bible, the ‘apple’ incident I think is a case in point. No matter how we live or where we live, we are always concerned someone may want to get an edge over us. And sometimes we succumb. Self-preservation, Nature’s first great Law, has always been part of us. The transient nature of life emboldens our resolve to ensure we survive. Its been drummed on us to be always on the guard.

Blogging is fun.It is also cathartic and can be therapeutic.It is quite interesting reading the posts. I find great joy in the knowledge that there are millions of like-minded souls out there who want to share their knowledge, experiences and sometimes very personal lives with the rest of the world. I will continue reading the ‘About’ pages and the posts and hope with time I will get a better understanding of the ways of the world. I look forward to writing my 50th post – Should I celebrate wildly like the cricketer hitting the half-century or should I celebrate with the grace and poise shown by the Queen during her Golden Jubilee celebrations?

Being a fence-sitter, I cannot make up my mind just yet. Typical Liberal.

Yes. what is life? Dictionaries will say there is evidence of some action and some self-sustaining processes. Evidence of living. Is that all?

Well, when that question somehow popped up in my head, for some strange reason Haddaway‘s ‘ What is love‘ started playing in my head. Those of a certain vintage may remember. It goes, ‘What is love?’

‘Oh baby don’t hurt me.

Don’t hurt me no more’. I am sure you know the rest of the lyrics.

Is there a connection between the two? After all life can be a direct result of love (intended or not). Chicken and egg come to mind.

What is life? Are we defined by our jobs? Our self-worth? Are we defined by our monetary value? Or the friends we keep? Our families? The letters after our names? The titles? our failings? Our successes? Are we defined by some altruistic concept?

The mortal coil that is us. Is That’s what is life is? What about our beliefs? Our faith? Or our non-faith?

Living the high life. Living la vida loca. Living the life of Riley.Is that what it is? I may be rumbling. But one has to ask these questions. Or are we to assume since we are living the life, that is life. Should we find room in ourselves to explore and discover more about us? Whats there to learn?. Explorers, all those hundreds of years ago traveled thousands of miles to discover something new. Discover what really? Was that the life? Or a mere self-fulfilling mission? Is life anything to do with one’s happiness, or sadness? Or could it be an accident? I am not even alluding to conception! Or is it some intrinsic concept yet defined? I only ask because I want to know. Otherwise I would keep schtum. Wouldn’t ask otherwise.

The Bible says the world and life was constructed in 7 days. Religions all bicker on what is life. Scientists have their own interpretation, and only last week a ‘Great discovery’ was made-Higgs boson. Apparently its the ‘God‘ particle. Its sent everyone in the scientific world agog. Doesn’t take much to please some people. Someone should issue a fatwa! It is a good thing no one said it was the ‘A’ word! The ‘G’ word is all right. Just a thought, imagine they had called that particle ‘Pippa’s Bottom’-Millions of young boys (and girls too) would have become science-interested and thus turn a ‘boring’ thing into an overnight sensation.

Got to admit no one really knows what ‘life’ really is . Otherwise we would not all come up with different answers. The American Dream could be all what life is? But the deeply religious Americans may say otherwise. Survival of the fittest could be what it is, essentially. But surely should life be measured by the length of time one was of sound mind, and breathing? Could life not extend beyond our brief sojourn on this beautiful planet? Well, if you take away the Greenhouse effect, tsunamis, earthquakes, the cheating bankers, terrorists. It is beautiful. Well, I could add CNN, FOX, The Sun too-heck I wont cause I may get into some deep muck. The other side of the same coin is could life be something that started before we were born-those lustful looks, back of the car incidents, cinemas – I mean could our lives have been predetermined even before conception. I was gonna say DNAs, but freaked out. I don’t want to open up an even larger hornets nest. But seriously, where do we start from and where do we end?

Is it like the chicken & egg question? Well, imagine Mr/Ms Chicken having a chat with their neighbour Mr/Ms Egg discussing who came first!

I am still struggling to get a definitive answer to the question posited in the title. However, I was reading a blog earlier today which persuaded me to look for answers from a different perspective. The blog is called http://www.wedontknowwhatthefutureholds.com. There is a quote from that blog I have un-ashamadely copied and pasted. It goes:

” Life is a test that we have to take; a risk, and one chance that we have. It is hard but with age comes kindness, good fortune, and love for others. Kindness is a gift to receive; a gift so special that you may only receive it once in a lifetime.”
– Beata B.

Is life a test? We do get tested almost everyday since we take risks everyday. Everyone one of us has to make some judgement everyday. Sometimes we call it wrongly. Other times we get it right. Experience helps. So does intelligence, culture, social and physical geography, upbringing, socialization, DNA(?), social circles etc. That quote also made me think that life is also a gift. It’s a mortal present bestowed upon us to utilize wisely. Otherwise we would not be tested. Would we? I used to listen to a lot of rap music and some of the lyrics, possibly majority ululated about not living beyond the 20s. It seemed like a badge of honour that someone would cease to exist or kind of looked forward to their demise at such a tender age. Is it because the test was too hard? Or perhaps it was an acknowledgement that there was nothing worth striving for beyond a certain age. Or just misguided lyrics? Or perhaps some element of artistic licence?

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity by contributing to the establishment of the kingdom of God, which can only be done by the recognition and profession of the truth by every man.”